Posted by “When she smiles, she still looks like Dorothy in ‘The Wizard Of Oz’ instead of Judy at 45.” – Robert J. Herguth, 1967
October 7, 1932: The first of two days that the entire Gumm family (Frank and Ethel and their three daughters) performed at the Second Annual Alfalfa Festival at I.O.O.F. Hall in Lancaster, California.
October 7, 1937: Broadway Melody of 1938.
October 7, 1938: A milestone in movie history. Judy Garland pre-recorded “Over the Rainbow” for The Wizard of Oz. The arrangement was provided by Murray Cutter. This was Judy’s first recording of the song and the first recording of the song by anyone. The song wasn’t filmed until March 1939.
The final version as heard in the film was edited together by taking the first verse of Take 5 and joining it to the bulk of Take 6.
Listen to all of the surviving takes here:
Listen to the final version in stereo with the introduction that was recorded on April 13, 1939, here:
Watch it here, in true stereo! https://youtu.be/_YIq_bU7agY?si=JKEg-vlojClI0pLw
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
Also on this day was the last recording session for Listen, Darling, which was devoted to the underscore. It was common for the underscoring of films to be recorded last after the films were almost completed. Listen, Darling had a very fast production schedule. It was rushed into production when it became apparent that the start of production on The Wizard of Oz would be delayed. Judy completed filming Listen, Darling, in early October. It was released on October 16th.
October 7, 1938: Love Finds Andy Hardy.
October 7, 1938: Babes in Arms.
October 7, 1941: The first day of rehearsals on the “Old Duchess Sequence 5-6” for Babes on Broadway. Time called: 9 a.m.; lunch: 12:30-1:30 p.m.; time dismissed: 2:24 p.m.
October 7, 1944: The Clock filming continued. The plan was to shoot scenes on the “Interior U.S.O.” set. This did not happen. Per the assistant director’s notes: Miss Garland arrived on lot at 9:15. At 9:30 she phoned Al Shenberg from dressing room saying she felt ill. Mr. Shenberg asked her to get madeup, etc., as we could finish the set before lunch or soon after. A little later, Miss Garland phoned again and said she really felt bad. Mr. Shenberg sent Dr. Jones to her. Dr. Jones reported that Miss Garland was running a temperature of 101 and sent her home.”
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Clock here.
October 7, 1947: More Easter Parade music rehearsals for Judy and Gene Kelly. This was the first day that Judy rehearsed “Mr. Monotony” and another day of Judy and Gene rehearsing “A Couple of Swells.” Time called: 12 p.m.; time dismissed: 3:45 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
October 7, 1951: Here’s an article about Max Meth, the conductor who was hired to conduct the orchestra for Judy’s upcoming debut at The Palace Theater in New York (October 16).
October 7, 1953: The final draft of the script for A Star Is Born.
October 7, 1953: Judy had another wardrobe fitting for A Star Is Born, plus a meeting with the film’s musical director Ray Heindorf.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
October 7, 1954: A Star Is Born was set to open the next night at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California. The Fox Theater is one of the last surviving old movie palaces in existence and has been restored to its former glory. It’s a gorgeous theater that would make watching A Star Is Born quite the experience.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
October 7, 1954: Here are a few A Star Is Born related items, including Hedda Hopper’s column in which she praised Judy’s performance but noted that she felt the film was too long. She also said, “I Believe Judy will win the Academy Award, not because of the picture, but because she’s Judy Garland.” Unfortunately, Hopper was wrong.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
October 7, 1960: Judy’s second and final night in concert at The Palais de Chaillot in Paris, France.
Photos: Judy socializing in Paris at this time before and after she had her hair done and got those famous (at least to Garland fans) spit curls that became a hysterical story she would tell six months later at Carnegie Hall. In the photos with Judy are (L-R): Gilbert Becaud, Line Renaud and Jean Sablon, and two with Yves Montand. Plus an extra photo of Judy with Maurice Chevalier.
October 7, 1961: Judy took her Carnegie Hall concert to The Mosque Theater in Newark, New Jersey. This was a return engagement. Judy first played the venue on May 2, 1961, and broke the house records.
Printed on this day was this article in which Jackie Gleason says that Judy’s claims of singing jazz are wrong. Gleason was referencing Judy’s concert at Carnegie Hall in which she stated that she liked to sing jazz and proceeded to. Or not, according to Gleason.
Also above is an ad for San Francisco’s KRAK radio station playing the complete “Judy at Carnegie Hall” LP for their listeners.
Check out The Judy Garland Online Discography’s “Judy at Carnegie Hall” pages here.
October 7, 1961: January in October. Popular cabaret performer January Jones (not to be confused with the actress January Jones of “Mad Men” fame), was in Tucson, Arizona, giving her impressions of Judy, Pattie Page, Ella Fitzgerald, and Peggy Lee. You can find a few videos of Ms. Jones on YouTube. She’s quite lovely and has a lovely voice. I wish I could find some examples of her Judy impression.
October 7, 1962: More legal actions between Judy and husband Sid Luft made the papers. On approximately October 1, Judy filed suit against Sid, obtaining a restraining order against him. Sid countered by asking for custody of their two kids, Lorna and Joe, and for half of Judy’s earnings.
Also on this day, Rochester, New York, was showing Girl Crazy. This advertisement is typical of the time and is a good example of the type of ads that Garland fans scoured the papers for in the pre-home media era.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Girl Crazy here.
October 7, 1962: Columnist Erksine Johnson reported about Judy’s image, her singing, and her recently filmed (but yet to be released) film, The Lonely Stage, the title of which was changed to I Could Go On Singing.
October 7, 1967: Judy took her Palace show to the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Columbus, Ohio. Judy arrived at the Columbus Union Terminal at 8:30 a.m. that morning, admitting as she went into the press conference that she had slept well on the train.
Download the show here (zip file).
Images above: An article about Judy being on the comeback trail published on this date in the Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; and a notice about Judy’s upcoming engagement at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.
October 7, 1972: The Wizard of Oz was re-released nationwide in theaters as part of the “Children’s Matinee” series. The film was also released in 1970 as part of the same series.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.